Re: JEDII

[Aimee <vanwagea@bc.edu>]

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Hi all,

I think that the first JED got picked up by media outlets because 
it was a performative act.  By this I mean the media can report on 
an act:  "today hundreds of 'hactivists' sent as many 
email messages as possible containing words like anarchism, 
militia and Ruby Ridge..."  Rather than "today hundreds of 
hactivists are trying to talk to as many people as they can about 
what Echelon is"--this is not a news story.  

I think because it was a performative act, it also sort of had an 
internal, somewhat playful meaning or purpose outside of its 
function at attracting media attention.  We all knew it wouldn't 
actually work or even if it did that it was only for one day.  But 
it was a performance, staged as much for ourselves and for 
whomever is working to make Echelon work as it was to educate or 
inform others.  

These are things I liked about JED.  I think a similar spirit on 
the second JED would rock.

I'm having some trouble thinking creatively of a new performative 
act.  I'm guessing same old JED done again would not attract media 
attention to the same degree (old story).  I'm also feeling like 
its aesthetic political performative "value" is at least partially 
contigent upon coming up with soemthing new.  What could it be...

I've been throwing around in my head a little bit the notion of 
Encrypt 
Your Email day, in which we could mail around instructions for 
encrypting email (I for one have never encrypted my email and 
wouldn't know where to begin, save for calling up a dear family 
member of mine who's good with that sort of thing) and encourage 
people to all encrypt for a day.  Doesn't quite have the same 
zing, though.  

The other thought--some sort of reverse panopticism day where we 
could send parody (a la the Onion) internal Echelon memos 
detailing the activities of the most nefarious of 
cyberterrorists...In this we could suppose we were turning the 
cameras in on the watchers, creating our own Echelon to spy on the 
FBI, that indeed it is the government who should wonder when it's 
communiques are being watched by information liberationists rather 
than the other way around.

Just some thoughts

aim 


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